Ōtautahi | Social Studies

For the last weeks of the term, we have been learning about Canterbury/Ōtautahi, the history, the places and their significance. Our task was to answer some questions and create a presentation about them. 

 

Reflection:

I think I did a very good job in completing my work, although I didn't finish in the time I expected to finish. I think I can do better next time. 

Workshop 3: Costume | English

1. The Reaping Scene - District 12 

• The children of the district have gathered together for the reaping to select the tributes. 
• Boys: shirts, buttoned collars, shorts, pants, white, colourless, faded, dull, overwashed. 
• Girls: dresses, shirts and skirts.
• Best clothes, probably worn once a year, worn out, colourless, faded. 
• Viewer Effect: we feel sorry for the people, they seem powerless, they live in poor conditions. 
• Directors Purpose: shows us how bad their conditions are, wants us to see them as weak, unprepared, hopeless. 
• Other Techniques: high angle with the faded coloured makes them seem weak, vulnerable, helpless. 

2. The Capitol - Arriving in the city. 

• Katniss and Peeta have arrived by Train in the Capitol.
• The clothes are extravagant!
  
• over the top
• colourful
• vibrant 
• accessories - hats/earrings/make-up/wigs/shoes/bags/dogs
• new - like only worn once, 'fashionable', access to good quality fabrics patterns. 
• Viewer Effect: makes them seem higher rank, privilege, relaxed, we don't like them - an attitude of entitlement, clueless 
• Directors Purpose: shows themes of imbalance of power and rich vs poor. 
• Other Techniques: the setting is crowded, people are happy, buildings are modern, big, well-kept. - Shows that Capitol is privileged 

3. The Countdown - Cornucopia 

• The tributes have just arrived n the arena and are waiting to start the games. 
• Costumes: survival gear, browns, black, dark colours, jackets, pants, t-shirts.
• Designed to look good, to be practical, lightweight. 
• Viewer effect: the tributes looked prepared, fit, athletic. 
• Director Purpose: they are going to die, the outfits are just for the audience (the Capitols) makes it seem more pageant like.
• Other Technique: silence - worried excited to see what happens, anxious, builds tension, makes the audience focus.

Analysing the Plot | English

What am I learning?

• I am learning how to analyse the plot of the film.  

How does this work show my learning?

• I made a Prezi show my understanding of how the plot progresses. 

What am I wondering as a result of this learning? 

• How are camera angles used in the film to create a particular atmosphere? 

MRS GREN | Science

During science, we learned about the 7 life processes, a short name for it is Mrs Gren, each letter stands for a life process. In class we each individually wrote a living thing, we then put it in a box and each picked a paper out of the box. I chose a cow, so I had to create something that presents how a cow goes through the 7 processes of life.

Workshop 2: Angles, Movement & Shots | English

Brainstorm

  - The Reaping Scene

• Katniss volunteers as a tribute when her sister was chosen.
• The children/parents of the district giving the three-finger salute. 
• Peeta is chosen as the other tribute. 

Hope and Rebellion 

• 3 Fingered Salute
  - it's a sign of respect for Katniss from the people of her district. 
  - Katniss is a symbol of hope for a district victor.
  - Katniss is a symbol of rebellion because she steps in for her sister when no one else would. 

Rich vs Poor  

⟶ Symbol - Effie Trinket - extreme, make-up, wig, hat, overly colourful and flashy outfit, proper accent. 

• Technology - Use of blood readers/scanners, projectors. 
• District 12 
  - Children's outfits for reaping are their best clothes, dresses, shirts - collared, boys - shorts or pants, colours of their clothes are very faded from washes and reusing. 
  - The village is falling down around them. '

Angles

• Close-Up - Faces 
• Primrose when reaped - Terror, Fear
• Effie - joyful, confident, excited - close of lips when reading names
• Katniss - panics when Prim is reaped, shock when she stands with Effie.
• Peeta - fear, panic, shock.
• Shallows Focus 
• The people in the background are in shallow focus when Prim Katniss hug. This forces the viewer to watch the characters in focus. 

Viewer Feel 

• Sorry for tributes 
• Primrose - it was her first she has been reaped.
• Katniss - she volunteered, a selfless act. 
• Anger towards the Capitol for the reaping. 
• We consider Effie is annoying, happy, stuck-up, clueless. 

Directors Purpose 

• need to be invested in their journey/suffering
• need to be angry at Capitol so that ew judge them and their decisions later. 
• Effie is depicted as a symbol of people in the District who are clueless - don't see the suffering

Music 

• Starts as we move to pick the boys.
• Minor key, tempo - slower, dynamic.
• Starts quiet then gets louder to build intensity.
• Mood - Tension, morose

Lighting

• Bright, Grey, Natural, Cold 
• Mood - sad, depressed, 

Colour 

• Dull, cold, palette - grey, white, blue, faded, washed out 
• Atmosphere - despair, sorry for the people, poverty, rundown 

Facial expressions are dull, bland and sad matching the lighting and colour.

Drugs Assessment | Health

For the past few weeks in Health, we have been learning more about drugs, our learning objective was to understand what the influences and consequences of drug use are. After finishing most of the activities on the slide we were required to do a research assessment on a drug of our choice. 

We had to include the influences and consequences an individual might have when they have taken drugs. 

Theme Guide | English

Following the theme and ideas workshop, we had to create something that shows our understanding of the themes and ideas that were portrayed in the film. I chose to create a theme guide. 

- What am I learning?
   I am learning how to analyse the themes and ideas of a film.

- How does this work show my learning?
  I created a theme guide to show my understanding of the themes and ideas of the film Hunger Games. 

- What am I wondering as a result of this learning? 
   I am wondering why these kinds of themes were used in this film. 

Themes and Ideas | English

Rich vs Poor - some people have more 

- more money 

- privileges/respect

- food-variety

- resources

- proper housing 

- advanced technology

- miraculous medicines

- good transport

- variety of clothing/make-up 

- childhoods 

Hope and Rebellion 

- hope is the belief that something will get better

- to fight against something, protest, uprise, usually against government 

- symbols of hope: Katniss, Melodic, Motive, Mocking Jay, Three Finger Salute

Struggle for Power 

- Currently, the Capitol has power: President Snow 

- Katniss becomes a rival for power - people look up to her for guidance, she becomes a threat because Snow sees her as one. 

- 'Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective, a lot of hope is dangerous.'

Fear - the people are afraid of rebelling because the last time they tried they failed and they were punished with the Hunger Games. 

Little Hope - becoming a victor 

Dangerous Hope - that the districts deserve to be treated better

Power Of Propaganda 

- information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote the political cause or point of view. 

    - It's not worth rebelling 

    - The Capitol is stronger.

    - Things are good the way they are. 

Peacekeepers

Victor

The Fallen 

Tribute 

Propaganda  people to keep peace and help you.  Glorious Wealthy  Respected  people who die in the games takes away from the reality two brave young people

Reality  Soldiers Violent Keeps people inline  Looks like Storm Troopers Violent To win 23 other has to die Trauma  teenagers who have been killed/murdered sacrifice, punishment to the districts

Rich vs Poor : 

- people in the Capitol vs people in the districts.

- compare opening shot in District 12 vs Peta looking out the window at the Capitol.

- District 12: Poor 

        - houses, rundown wooden 

        - food - very little, see an old man picking at bones 

        - clothing - a pair of good clothes, rest of clothes are worn out, old, grey/black, colours are faded -                                  easier to not show coal dust.

- Capitol 

        - house - large, concrete, metals, accents gold/silver

        - food - a variety of choices, don't have the same things - excess 

        - clothing - fancy, suits, extravagant, fashion, extreme, excess 

Hope & Rebellion : 

- Conversation between President Snow and Senica Crain 

- Conversation between Hamich and Senica - 'Give them something to root for, young love'. 

Struggle for Power :

- Katniss and Peta threatening to eat the berries 

- Death of Rue = riot in District 11 

Power of Propaganda 

- subtle 

- Hunger Games film strip

I volunteer as Tribute 

• Volunteered as a tribute for her sister.
• She has become one of the Brave people
• She protected her sister.

The Nuremberg Laws | Social Studies

Hi everyone! Welcome to another post, today for Social Studies we learned about the Nuremberg Laws, the impact of the laws of the Jews and the rights that were affected due to these laws. We needed to do source analysis of a text that has been provided to us, for the source analysis we first had to read our source then we answered questions related to the topics which were discussed in the text. 

At their annual party rally held in Nuremberg in September 1935, the Nazi leaders announced new laws based on many of the racial theories common in Nazi beliefs. These "Nuremberg Laws" exclused German Jews from Reich citizenship an dprohibited them from marrying or having sexual relations with person of "German or German-related blood." Addtional regulations to these laws deprived them of most political rights. Jews were disenfranchised (that is, they had no righ to vote) and could not hold public office. 

The Nuremberg Laws did not identify a "Jew" as someone with particular religious beliefs. Intead the first amendment to the Nuremberg Laws defined anyone who had three or four Jewish grandparents as a jew, regardless of whether that individual recognized himself of herself as a Jew or belonged to the Jewish religious community. Many Germans who had not practised Judaism (the Jewish refligion) or who had no done so for years found themselves caught in the grip of Nazi terror. even people with Jewish grandparents who had converted to Christianity could be defined as Jews.

The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 was the start of a new wave of anti-Semitic laws that brought about immediate segregation: Jewish patient were no longer admitted to municipal hospitals in Düsseldorf, German court judges could not refer to legal commentaries or opinions written by Jewish authors, Jeiwsh officers were expelled from the army, and Jewish university students were not allowed to sit for doctoral exams. 

Other regulations reinforced the message that Jews were outsider in Germany; for example, in Deccember 1935, the Reich Propaganda Ministry issued a decree forbidding Jewish soldiers to be named among the dead in World War I memorials. 

Adapted from https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/anti-jewish-legislation-in-prewar-germany

1. Provide two examples of ways in which the Nuremberg laws affected the rights of German Jews. 

The Nuremberg Laws didn't allow German Jews to have citizenship. 

 

They also didn't allow them to have any romantic or sexual relationships with people of "German or German-related blood". 

2. What other actions were taken that discriminated against Jews in Germany?  (Remembering)

Anyone with three or four Jewish grandparents were defined as a Jew, regardless of whether that person identifies as a Jew.

The Reich Propaganda Ministry issued a decree which forbade Jewish soldiers to be named among the dead in the World War I memorials. 

They dpreived then of political rights and they were disenfranchised, which means they weren't allowed the right to vote. 

3. Why do you think that the Nazis passed these laws? (Understanding) 

Hitler hated the Jews, he thought that the Jews were staining the purity of Germnay saying they were the source of the German's misofrtunes.

4. If a New Zealand government passed a law that provided for different treatment of a named racial group in New Zealand, what do you think the reaction of most New Zealand people would be? Why do you think this might be the case? (Applying)

Many people would be enraged and shcoked at the fact that this may be happening. Since Māori had already experienced many difficulties with their cutlure, there may be various disagreements, and there is a chance of riots and strikes. 

5. do you think these Nuremberg laws were racist? Explain your point of view. (Evaluating) 

The Nuremberg Laws were racist towards the Jews because they were outcasting a race. After all, every race should be able to be recognized and celebrated. They took away many of the Jews rights which were required to live properly. They were denied many things and were humiliated, the Nuremberg Laws were unfair to them and didn't dive thme the freedom to have say in anything that was said in the government. They also massacred a huge amounts of the population of Jews, even going as far to sending them to concentration camps. 

Credit: ushmm

DNA Extraction | Science

Hi everyone! Welcome to another post, the previous week in science we did an experiment where we extracted DNA from kiwifruit. 

Aim: To extract DNA from kiwifruit 

Equipment: Water, test tube, beakers, sand, spatula Ethanol, Kiwifruit, Sandwich bag, bunsen burner, mat, gauze mat, tripod, dishwashing liquid, glass rod, cloth. 

Method:  

1. Cut the kiwifruit in half and skin the kiwi fruit.
2. Squish the skinned kiwifruit with sand and water in a sandwich bag. Then pour through cloth, collect the juice in a beaker, then transfer it into a test tube.
3. Pour water into the beaker and heat up. Put two drops of dishwashing liquid in the test tube with the kiwifruit and rest in the beaker with warm water. 
4. After setting the test tube in the beaker, take it out after 1-2 minutes and add Ethanol. Watch the DNA separate and collect the DNA using a spatula. 

Results: 

Squished Kiwifruit with sand. 

Separated DNA

Kiwifruit DNA

Discussion:

The dishwashing liquid broke the DNA cells of the kiwifruit, then the ethanol separated the DNA. 

The Great Depression | Social Studies

Hi everyone! Welcome to another post, today for Social Studies, we learned about the Great Depression. Because of the fact that we have started learning about the Holocaust, we started by looking at the Great Depression the cause of it and why it was related to the Holocaust. Our task was to write three paragraphs answering questions on the impact of the Great Depression.

Why was Germany hit the hardest during the depression?

Germany was incapacitated the hardest during the Great Depression of 1929. The Great Depression is a relevant topic that displays the importance of money, banks and the stock pay market. After suffering a grand defeat from the first world war, Germany had to pay off the debt that was assigned t them from the allies due to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Germany did not have enough money to pay off its debt, making society treat money as if it wasn't worth as much much as a block of butter. banks weren't of much help either; it was very difficult for them as they experienced many downfalls where people would withdraw a hefty amount of money. This just shows how much damage the Great Depression did to Germany. 

Explain what Germany had to agree to by signing the Treaty of Versailles?

Germany was forced to acknowledge various amounts of terms by signing the Treaty of Versailles written by the Allies. The Treaty of Versailles was very damaging towards Germany as some of the terms included them losing a lot of money. The Treaty of Versailles which was an agreement written by the Allies included many clauses that the Germans hated the most because it blames Germany for starting the first world war. Germany also had to agree to pay reparation of £6.6 billion which Germany did not have. This caused the fall of Germany's economy and the beginning of the Great Depression. 

How was NZ affected by the Depression?

The Great Depression, like Germany, also affected many other countries outside of Europe which caused a huge fall in the economy worldwide. The appearance of the Great Depression did a lot of damage to Germany but also to other countries which created a big mark in the history books. During the Great Depression, many citizens lost their jobs in New Zealand due to the large economic fall. In just three years the national income fell by 40 per cent, which was further weakened by the burden of interest on the overseas debt. This caused the fall of New Zealand's economy which had affected the lifestyles of many citizens. 

What did Hitler say about Jews? | Social Studies

Hi everyone! Welcome to another post, today for Social Studies we started learning about the Holocaust. What we did first learn about Hitler's hatred for the Jews by looking at two of his quotes, after that we then had to summarize these quotes. 

Quote 1.

"The Jews were responsible for bring negroes into the Rhineland with the ultimate idea of bastardising (lowering the quality of) the white race which they hate and thus lowering its cultural and political level so that the Jew might dominte."

In this quote, Hitler was writing about how Jews are lowering the standards of Germany and how Jews are planning to overthrow the people of Germany to gain dominance. 

Quote 2. 

"The Jewish youth lies in wait for hours on end... spying on the unsuspicious German girl he plans to seduce... he wants to contaminate her blood and remove her from the bosom of her own people. The Jew hates the white race and wants to lower its cultural level so that Jews might dominate" 

In this quote, Hitler talked about how a Jew was planning to take advantage and take control of a German girl. Hitler again talking about how Jews hate Germans and how they want to dominate.

Visual and Sound Techniques | English

Hi everyone! Welcome to another post, today for English we started our new focus for the term which is a Film Study. For the first two weeks, we are studying some film techniques. For the first week we studied visual and sound techniques, we then had to show our learning by creating a dictionary, Kahoot, pick-a-path or a crossword. As you can see I did a dictionary.